What investors wish you knew about how to get their backing

Presented by Blue Sky, the Chicago Tribune’s new gathering place for news, analysis and events related to innovation and entrepreneurship.

By James Janega, @JamesJanega , Blue Sky Reporter
Dec. 23, 2013, 12:43 p.m.

  

Pitching investors requires a targeted approach. Why ask an investor focused on biotech to fund a consumer electronics startup? It turns out investors wish startups knew more about what piques their imagination, too. We asked a handful of top investors in Chicago to break down how changes in the funding climate have impacted what they want to hear from founders with big ideas.

Answer? It’s a good time to be focused.

Chicago venture capitalists say inconsistent returns have pushed some investors out and made those remaining more choosy about the startups they support, while angel investors say their smaller investment pots make them selective to begin with. The retreat of individual venture capitalists has meant fewer investments and more frequent funding gaps between investment stages — and more competition for the investment dollars that remain.

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Lynda.com comes to the Evanston Public Library

Online software training by Lynda.com

Lynda.com provides a wide variety of online video training.  What can Lynda.com do for you, and your employees?

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• Watch anywhere—on Macs, PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

EPL cardholders can start learning from home today!  In the library, Lynda.com is available to anyone.

The New York Times Business Bestsellers December 2013

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December 8, 2013

This Month		Business Books
1		LEAN IN, by Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell. (Knopf.) The chief operating officer of Facebook urges women to pursue their careers without ambivalence. (Also available as a downloadable eBook, a downloadable Audiobook, and as an Audiobook on CD.)
2		OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back Bay/Little, Brown.) Why some people succeed — it has to do with luck and opportunities as well as talent. (Also available as a downloadable eBook, a downloadable Audiobook, and as an Audiobook on CD.)
3		GROUNDED, by Bob Rosen. (Jossey-Bass.) How leaders can stay rooted and become more self-aware by focusing on six powerful personal forces.
4	*	DOT COMPLICATED, by Randi Zuckerberg. (HarperOne/HarperCollins.) Observations on the uses and abuses of social media and technology.
5		EVERYTHING STORE, by Brad Stone. (Little, Brown.) The story of Jeff Bezos and Amazon.
6		THINKING, FAST AND SLOW, by Daniel Kahneman. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux.) The winner of the Nobel in economic science discusses how we make choices in business and personal life. (Also available as a downloadable Audiobook and as an Audiobook on CD.)
7		EXTORTION, by Peter Schweizer. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.) A Hoover institution fellow argues that politicians shape legislation in order to extract donations.
8		DUCK COMMANDERS, by Willie and Korie Robertson with Mark Schlabach. (Howard Books.) Behind the scenes at the A&E show “Duck Dynasty.”
9	*	HATCHING TWITTER, by Nick Bilton. (Portfolio/Penguin.) An account of how Twitter came to be focuses on its four founders.
10		THE TIPPING POINT, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back Bay/Little, Brown.) How and why certain products and ideas become fads. (Also available as a downloadable eBook, a downloadable Audiobook, and as an Audiobook on CD.)

A version of this Best Sellers report appears in the December 8, 2013 issue of The New York Times Book Review. Rankings on weekly lists reflect sales for the week ending November 23, 2013.